Pizarro: San Jose chefs go all out for Martha's Kitchen

By Sal Pizarro Mercury News

Posted:
08/29/2014 06:24:29 PM PDT

A trio of San Jose chefs put their culinary skills to the test for a good cause Wednesday, competing in the second annual Silicon Valley Celebrity Chef contest. The event at the Silicon Valley Capital Club was a fundraiser for Martha's Kitchen, the San Jose nonprofit that provides food for a lot of homeless and low-income people.

The competing chefs -- all from Italian restaurants -- were Aaron Dean from Il Fornaio, Umberto Pala from Vin Santo and Pino Spatola of Paesano's Ristorante. They were required to create dishes incorporating three staples from the Martha's Kitchen pantry: eggs, potatoes and ground turkey.

A couple hundred attendees voted on their favorites while also tipping generously for wine and bidding on exclusive dinners offered by the chefs. The chefs all did a great job, and several people thought the crown might go to Spatola, last year's winner, or Pala, who put together a great turkey meatball. But it was Dean who won the most votes -- despite running out of his dish in less than an hour.

"We brought enough for 140 people, and we just went through it really quickly," Dean said. "It made a me a little nervous because not everyone got some."

His winning dish was a turkey slider on brioche with pork belly bacon and a black truffle aioli, served with matchstick fries. No wonder it went quickly.

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If you weren't there, you can also support Martha's Kitchen at its Roaring '20s-themed fundraising dinner Sept. 26 at the San Jose Airport Garden Hotel. Tickets are $125 each and you can get more information by contacting Martha's Kitchen Executive Director Edita Cruz at 408-293-6111 or editacruz@gmail.com.

A NIGHT FOR VETS: Rico Navarette-Villalba, creative director of Willow Glen's Salon NV, cancer survivor and U.S. Army veteran, will be the honorary guest speaker at the fourth annual Silicon Valley Veterans Ball on Sept. 13. The evening at the San Jose Airport Garden Hotel will include a casino night fundraiser and dancing to the music of Ku'u Aloha I Ke Akua, led by Cisco Bunac, a disabled veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Vietnam.

The 6:30 p.m. event is presented by and supports the San Jose-based Veterans Supportive Services Agency. Tickets are $50 each and can be purchased online at www.vssainc.org/events. And anyone who just wants to support the event can also go to that website and purchase a ticket to allow a vet to attend for free.

CHEERING SECTION: Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino is usually right in the middle of things, but this weekend he's on the sideline cheering on his wife, Leslee Guardino, who qualified to represent Team USA in the ITU World Triathlon Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, this weekend.

"She's pretty amazing for also being a mom of two and CEO of her company," said Carl Guardino, who took their two daughters to Canada to support their mother, too.

AND THE TITLE IS ... : The upcoming documentary on San Jose being produced by Tricia Creason-Valencia and Norman Kline finally has a name. Kline tells me that after a marathon brainstorming session, the winner was "Changing Boundaries: The History of San Jose." Naturally, it works on both geographic and demographic levels and the film will use map-based imagery to show San Jose's shifting geographic boundaries and highlight people who changed social, business and political boundaries in the valley.

The movie, being made with History San Jose and CreaTV San Jose, is set to debut Oct. 29 at the California Theatre in downtown San Jose. Keep tabs on its progress at www.facebook.com/sanjosehistorydoc.

RAISING A (NEW) ROOF: St. Peter Catholic Church in Pacifica is holding its third annual Antiques and Collectibles show Sept. 13 and 14. The event started as a fundraiser for a new church roof, as well as other capital improvements, but it's starting to gain a reputation as a small show with high-quality collectibles and antiques. Admission and parking are free, but donations will be accepted.

It's open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 13 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 14 at the church at 700 Oddstad Blvd.

FASHIONABLE TEAS: Palo Alto tea lovers should be in heaven now that DAVIDsTEA has opened a new shop at 318 University Ave., with more than 150 varieties to choose from with names like Read My Lips, Kiwi's Big Adventure and Jumpy Monkey. Sounds a bit like the tea equivalent of Philz Coffee.

And even Santana Row is putting a twist on the trend with its High Tea Fall Fashion Show on Sept. 6. The $35 ticket to the 3 p.m. event includes a tea-inspired cocktail and boxed tea sandwiches with scones. Check it out at www.santanarow.com.

SCOUT'S HONOR: Congratulations to Los Altos Hills resident Bill Stark Jr., who was honored with the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America. The award has been given out to fewer than 750 people in its 88-year history, and that group includes 14 U.S. presidents. Stark, who was a general partner and chief counsel at real estate investment firm the Fox Group, has served as president of the Western Region for the Boy Scouts since 2012.

Of course, he's got a long history with Scouting, having attained his Eagle rank in 1956 and serving as Scoutmaster for Troop 33 in Los Altos for five years.